After I was downsized from a newspaper after 30 years in business. After that I worked as a substitute teacher (and earned the award for Worst Substitute Teacher ever), as an elder helper (opened my eyes to a world where I learned most agencies are sketchy), at a Meijer bakery (experienced sexism), as a house cleaner where I continually broke things (hiding a broken piece in my car for five years and hoping to find a new replacement some day and swept dirt under the rug), was a housekeeper for a priest (who fired me for a reason I didn't understand, maybe because I broke a big marble urn that shouldn't have been in the laundry room), a toy maker who worked in a barn where my fingers bled cause it was so cold), a church newsletter editor (where a pastor accused me of losing his sermon on a Sunday morning), a property manager (convincing owner that hired me I could do it when I had no experience ever but ended up helping him pass an Ann Arbor housing inspection), a dogsitter (those dogs might not have been walked as much as they should have) and housesitter (ate all their Girl Scout cookies and had to find someone selling them to replace before they returned). Target didn't hire me because I asked too many questions at the interview and I felt like a loser cause everyone can get hired at Target. Then I landed a job as an estate sale assistant and opened a small booth at a mall selling quirky things. Today I've never been happier. No management duties, get to talk to lots of different and unusual people, get to design the booth and presentation at sales. I wish I would have gone into the business sooner. BUT... I learned something at every place (how elderly poor people live), found out what poverty was (went from living in a 2,000 square foot old house to living in 200-foot studio apartment). I never, ever expected my life was going to end up this way, and was very depressed for years. Still haven't figured life out though!
Nicely said. As for me, for the first half of my life, I was always the youngest guy in the room. Now, I'm usually the oldest guy. So it goes. It makes me smile.
After I was downsized from a newspaper after 30 years in business. After that I worked as a substitute teacher (and earned the award for Worst Substitute Teacher ever), as an elder helper (opened my eyes to a world where I learned most agencies are sketchy), at a Meijer bakery (experienced sexism), as a house cleaner where I continually broke things (hiding a broken piece in my car for five years and hoping to find a new replacement some day and swept dirt under the rug), was a housekeeper for a priest (who fired me for a reason I didn't understand, maybe because I broke a big marble urn that shouldn't have been in the laundry room), a toy maker who worked in a barn where my fingers bled cause it was so cold), a church newsletter editor (where a pastor accused me of losing his sermon on a Sunday morning), a property manager (convincing owner that hired me I could do it when I had no experience ever but ended up helping him pass an Ann Arbor housing inspection), a dogsitter (those dogs might not have been walked as much as they should have) and housesitter (ate all their Girl Scout cookies and had to find someone selling them to replace before they returned). Target didn't hire me because I asked too many questions at the interview and I felt like a loser cause everyone can get hired at Target. Then I landed a job as an estate sale assistant and opened a small booth at a mall selling quirky things. Today I've never been happier. No management duties, get to talk to lots of different and unusual people, get to design the booth and presentation at sales. I wish I would have gone into the business sooner. BUT... I learned something at every place (how elderly poor people live), found out what poverty was (went from living in a 2,000 square foot old house to living in 200-foot studio apartment). I never, ever expected my life was going to end up this way, and was very depressed for years. Still haven't figured life out though!
Thanks so much for telling these stories, Linda. What a life! I especially liked the Target story. 😁
Nicely said. As for me, for the first half of my life, I was always the youngest guy in the room. Now, I'm usually the oldest guy. So it goes. It makes me smile.
Thanks as always Ara. We can be old together.